Class Notes

wordle.net
Buddhist view of learners:

1. Upside-down cup is supposedly there to learn, but doesn't listen or take any information in
2. Hole in the cup: takes in information too quickly but forgets it
3. Mud in the cup takes in information but muddies it up
4. Empty, right-side-up cup takes in information and keeps is

15. There are four types among those who sit before the sages: the sponge, the funnel, the strainer and the sieve. The sponge absorbs all. The funnel takes in at one end and lets it out the other. The strainer rejects the wine and retains the sediment. The sieve rejects the coarse flour and retains the fine flour.

Jelly Doughnut as a learner: Information is stuffed into learners.

Class Notes

Strategies for Amy: Because she struggles with processing auditory information, she needs additional time to process information and formulating a response. Therefore, the teacher should provide her with written directions and brainstorming chart for writing assignment (Winebrenner, 123)
Strategies for Connor: Because he needs tasks to be chunked, he could benefit from using the fishbone summary graphic organizer to write down important details of a story he has read. He can then use a computer to write a summary of the story.

• Strategies should be: Considerate, Useful, Educational, and Teacher-friendly

Class Notes

Debate: Inclusion
Inclusion is bad for typical students: the differentiated instruction that is required for teaching students with disabilities within the classroom takes TIME (who can argue with this?) and this takes time away from typical students.
Students will be broken up in ability groups anyways, and will take time away from teacher.
Advanced students who need differentiated instruction will be put at the bottom of the priority list.

English Language Learners
ESL - English as a Second Language
ELL - English Language Learner
LEP - Limited English Proficient
NEP - Non-English proficient

LAD - Language Acquisition Device: Chomsky says that people innately can learn oral languages
CUP/CULP - Common Underlying (Language) Proficiency

BICS - (Jim Cummings) Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

• language needed to function in everyday interpersonal situations
• non-verbal cues (gestures, facial expressions) help understanding
• cognitively not demanding
• not related to academic success (will not ensure academic success)
• can be reached in 1-2 years in country

CALP - Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

• language needed for academic situations
• skills needed for listening, reading, speaking, writing in the classroom across content areas, related to academic success
• cognitively very demanding
• abstract concepts
• can take 5 or more years

Differentiated Instruction

Carol Tomlinson
"Students have multiple options for taking information, making sense of information and expressing what they learn”
In response to learner's needs, teachers can differentiate:

• content
• process
• product

According to the students'

• readiness
• interest
• learning profile

Example: Mr. Appleton

• no response to individual differences
• no engagement
• no life-long learning

Example: Mrs. Baker

• no clear sense of learning goals
• too haphazard
• no long-term learning
• no thought about individual learners

Example: Ms. Cassell

• well-planned
• engaging
• thought given to individual needs

Flow of teaching in a differentiated class


3 ways to differentiate

Differentiate by Content
Differentiate by Process
Differentiate by Product

• website
• map
• written report
• debate
• presentation, etc

Grouping

• by readiness (need more comprehension, have schema, etc)
• by interests (artistic, etc)
• by learning styles

"Differentiation Lessons by Master Teachers" by Jennifer Carolan and Abigail Guinn in "Educational Leadership" Feb. 2007, Vol 64 no. 5

"Goals of Differentiation" by Carol Tomlinson

• have a strong rationale for differentiating instruction
• everyone knows from the outset what the expectations are
• everyone knows that things will work out differently
• idea: class on what fairness means
• begin at a place that is comfortable for you
• it can take a few years to introduce new strategies to your classroom
• have a "home base" for students to begin and end activities (ex. begin and end at desks)
• be sure students have a plan for getting help when you are busy with another student/group (ask for peer help, ask the 'expert of the day,' students unstick themselves by thinking on paper)

Chapter 6

Reading Notes: TKLD Winebrenner Ch. 6-10

Teacher-directed reading

• choose something that appeals to reluctant readers
• read a selection aloud to the class first so global thinkers can hear the whole story (analytic thinkers can wait to read it themselves)
• have students listen to a recording or have them read it out loud to a buddy
• bring the group back together to discuss meaning
• teach a specific reading skill and have them coach each other on this skill
• teach the vocab using visual aids
• create a story map to help kids see elements of story
• repeat with other selections

Big Books

• show cover, read title, discuss illustration
• student predict based on cover and title
• read entire story using pointer over each word
• reread story asking students to read with you wherever they can
• repeat story over next several days until students can read it on their own
• have students take home regular sized books to read to their families

Predictable books

• such as The House That Jack Built, Three Billy Goats Gruff
• stop before the predictable words and have students chant it

Language Experience Method

• for students who do not read well
• student dictates or writes down his own stories (do not correct spelling and grammar)
• student uses the stories to practice reading
• when student has read the stories several times, cut up the sentences and read them
• cut up individual words, and have student read them in and out of order
• put all the words together, scramble them up and student chooses a word and reads it

Fluency

Cardo Recorded Book Method

• Record a book, section by section
• students have the book in front of them and read along as they listen to the recording.
• students should read along in a soft voice, following the words with their finger
• after students read the first part, teach specific reading skills in the context of the section
• continue section by section, teaching skills with each section

Whisper reading (one-on-one method)

• choose a story student is somewhat familiar with
• sit behind student, close enough that you can point to the text
• student reads the story, as the teacher reads along into the student's right ear at a low level, raise level if support is needed
• teacher reads at a slightly faster rate than the student, but explain that the student shouldn't worry about keeping up with you
• as teacher reads, she points to the phrases being read, rather than individual words (importance of reading in phrases)
• after the reading, ask the student to tell you one thing she remembers from the story, do not ask specific questions
• ask student to predict as you go along

Oral Reading
Buddy reading

• read the story to the students aloud
• pair struggling readers with competent readers
• ...

Rehearsed reading
Choral reading

Comprehension

Story detectives

• have students make and discuss predictions

KWPL

• students write what they know
• want to know
• predict
• and after the story, they write what they learned

Prediction ideas

• have students look at pictures and predict based on them
• read a story with the children, and read it again while they don't have their books open. as you read, pause at certain words and have the students predict what the word is.
• after reading a story, have students imagine what will happen next
• discuss how clues in a story lead to surprises and solutions

Visual organizers

Story maps

• setting
• major character
• minor character 1
• minor character 2
• major problem in story
• turning point
• how problem was solved
• theme or moral (big idea)

Character maps

• physical appearance
• positive qualities
• negative qualities
• first major action
• second major action
• effect on other characters
• what character should have done
• how character changed by end of story

Hand Story Map

• Thumb – title
• Index – setting
• Middle – character
• Ring – problem (main character's major problem)
• Pinkie – action (main character's action to solve the problem)

or

• Thumb – major problem
• index – first important event
• middle – second important event
• ring – how the problem was solved
• pinkie – what happened after the problem was solved
• wrist – how the story ended

Venn diagrams

• can be used for compare and contrast circles for character attributes

Use a story's illustrations

• describe what they actually see
• predict what will happen based on illustration
• compare illustrations about the same topic from different sources
• find similarities and differences
• find other events that could have been illustrated

Essential questions

• what is the basic problem the character has to solve?
• how did the solve the problem?
• how might you have solved the problem if you had been in the character's situation? Give details.
• Why did the character solve the problem this way? What other options did the character have? Do you think that they did the right action?

Creative drama

• dramatize events in the book
• have them act out what they predict will happen
• portray certain characters

Summarizing

Sequencing

• have reading buddies list the events of a story in no particular order
• cut the segments and the arrange them in proper sequence
• when in proper sequence, students number them and tape them together

Comic strips

• find a comic strip to share with the students, one that is easy to understand
• read with the students
• number the segments, and then cut the segments apart and have the students help in putting them in the right order
• have students practice this until they are comfortable with it
• cut another comic strip without numbering the segments, and have students put it in the proper order
• demonstrate how they can do this with a story
• do this with a story (I have comic strip boards)

Story boards

• use comic strip style sections to illustrate each part of a story
• arrange them in the proper sequence

Reciprocal teaching

• summarizing
• questioning (students identify important information and pose in question form, they self-test to see if they can answer their own questions, see question starters p. 92)
• clarifying
• predicting

Choosing literature

• 3 finger rule: open to any page and have the student read out loud, holding up a finger for every word they can't understand, 3 or more fingers means it's too difficult to read independently
• set aside 30 minutes a day for reading
• allow students to reread books
• for reluctant readers, tell them the story or part of it before they read
• consider showing a movie version of a story
• Let's Talk About Books pair work: students tell each other about the books they are reading
• students fill out a “books I want to read” chart

Chapter 7

Letter-sound recognition

• Word families
• Word wall
• Use music and movement

Vocabulary

• attributes chart (see p. 114 Winebrenner)

Chapter 8

Writing

6+1 trait writing model

• ideas and content
• organization
• voice
• word choice
• sentence fluency
• conventions
• presentation

Steps to good writing (p 125)

1. pre-writing
2. writing (repeat as necessary)
3. revising (repeat as necessary)
4. editing (repeat as necessary)
5. publishing

Chapter 9

Reading and Learning the Content Areas

Chapter 10

Improving Students' Success in Math

• stick with hands-on math learning until understanding is achieved before moving on to teaching other ways to master the skill, or concepts
• math happens all day long
• math can be used in literature
• use real-world math problems with the students
• model how to complete a problem for global learners
• use rhymes or jingles
• have students set their own goals
• asking questions and making mistakes is the only way to learn
• teach estimation and have students use it in checking their own work
• have students solve several problems using one strategy, and then solve one problem using several strategies
• have students describe their thinking

Nines on my fingers

• students hold out 10 fingers
• if you want to times 9X2, you count from the left 1...2... and hold down that finger
• then look at what's on the left side and what's on the right side of the held down finger (1 and 8, so 18)

Class Notes

Guest speaker who works with special needs, especially autism.
Checklist:

• general characteristics of autism
• definition
• facts
• history
• spectrum
• characteristics

1. social skills
2. language and communication
3. stereotypical behavior & preoccupation
4. cognition & learning
5. change

• suggestions

1. structure
2. behavior
3. social skill

• DVD

General characteristics of autism

• impairment in social abilities,
• impairment in expressive language,
• display unusual and repetitive behavior

Definition

• autism is the most characteristic of the Autism Spectrum Disorders
• neurological and developmental disorder that usually appears in the first three years of life

Facts

• ASD diagnosed in 1 in 150 children in the United States.
• it affects 4 times as many boys as girls
• for siblings the risk for developing ASD is 1 in 5

History

• Eugen Bleuler labeled autism in 1911 as a type of Schizophrenia
• first published accounts in 1943 by Leo Kanner in Baltimore, 1944 by Hans Asperger
• Asperger's research not recognized really until 1996 (classified the disorder Asperger's)

Spectrum

• Autism ranges from mild to severe (called high-functioning and low-functioning)
• diagnosis based on the presence of a group of specific behaviors
• Asperger's disorder is: higher cognitive functioning, high IQ and higher language, exceptional intelligence in areas of interest

Characteristics

• by 24 months, children with autism: do not point, do not engage in normal engagement, do not mimick others' behaviors and sounds, do not exchange sounds, do not respond to their names, do not engage in pretend play.
• toddlers with autism and Asperger's have receptive language
• toddlers with autism have no language, delayed or disordered language
• robotic or repetitive jargon, "Echolalia"
• 
  

Additional behaviors:

• Autism/Asperger's: known to act out; tantruns; impulsive; can shut down (possibly anxious/stressed, new or difficult material, new location, not prepared); rigid concrete thinking

Pre-occupation:

• older and/or higher functioning

Sensory issues:

• Autism/Asperger's: highly sensitive to certain sounds, smelss and textures; physical comfort by another person can be uncomfortable (Grandin developed a squeeze machine); can only concentrate on one sense at a time - need time to prepare for each sense
• Tito: "the world is chaos." Cannot integrate all the sense at once, focus on one sense. He chooses hearing and focuses on sounds of language and oral information
• Temple Grandin: has to make a picture in her mind before she can understand something

Cognition & learning

• slow processing; overwhelmed by detail
• unusual associations: bananas and clouds - Tito happened to be looking at a cloud when someone was talking about bananas and therefore thought for years that clouds were called bananas

Change

• Asperger's/autism: difficulty coping with changes in routine, transitions, unpredictability, unstructured situations, new situations, organizational skills (material and thoughts)

Suggestions

• Three F's: firm, friendly, flexible
• speak in a playful but respectful tone
• use humor carefully
• pick your battles
• environment: stationary chair; stimulus-free workplace
• structure: rules - be specific at the outset, post rules; specific directions - written/checklist; schedules - written, helpful to follow same routine each week; checklists - general or individualized; advanced preparation - for any changes or new situations
• incentives: motivation - tangible incentives, interests, computer time, candy
• behavior: can be problematic due to a bad day, difficult experience; easily distracted - keep things moving, be prepared to re-focus attention
• anxiety: be patient, creative, take small steps, let it go for the day
• social interaction: encourage playing a game together, saying "please" and "thank you"; social groups, social scripts (example: parent or teacher writes social stories. "I will meet the cantor, and I will chant my prayers for her, and she will be proud of me.)

Reading Notes

Widening the Circle p. 63-122
Arguments for inclusion:

• the special education system isn't working for students (p66)
• all people are capable of learning (p71)
• special education does not prepare students for mainstream environments (p70)
• complies with IDEA (p72)
• because students with learning differences often struggle with transferring skills, it is best for them to learn skills in an authentic setting (a typical classroom) so they can learn to transfer these skills authentically

Arguments against inclusion:

• changing to inclusion would require a huge, costly, structural overhaul of the education system
• an inclusive classroom might not meet the needs of struggling students... they might be neglected or ignored
• an inclusive classroom might take away from teaching time for other students

Class Notes

Class Outline

• Questions and Review
• 504 and IDEA
• RtI – DCAP: demonstration of presentation
• Special Education Terms via the Name Card Method
• Differentiated Instruction

History of legislation

• 1950 to 1970 the self- contained classroom was the primary setting
• In late ’70’s the segregated approach gave way to mainstreaming, either full time or part time
• By the ’90’s, laws focused on discrimination issue
• This decade the emphasis is on accountability

PL 94-142 of 1975 (IDEA)

• FAPE: Free and Appropriate Public Education
• LRE: Least Restrictive Environment
• IEP: Individualized Education Program
• Renamed as IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act 1973

Together with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) of 1990, it is a civil rights statute Protects against discrimination of people with disabilities Applies to programs that receive federal funding

IDEA

• All students, ages 3 – 21 who have one of the designated disability areas who need special education.
• All public schools must comply, and the Dept. of Education oversees it.
• Basic requirement: provide an appropriate free and public education.
• Includes: IEP, LRE, nondiscriminatory assessment (standardized, objective).
• Designated coordinator: no requirement.
• Funding: some federal funding for the services.
• Reviewed every year, re-evaluation every three years
• 13.4% of students have services provided to them - 5.2% SLD (around 6 million students in the US) (up from 8.3% in 1977, highest in 2004/5 with 13.8%, with 5.7% diagnosed with SLD)
• Even though it is theoretically funded, this all gets very expensive ($200,000 per year to provide services for a student with autism?)

504

• All individuals who have a disability, as defined as something that affects a major life activity; no age limit.
• All entities receiving public funding must comply, Office for Civil Rights oversees.
• Basic requirements: do not discriminate against any individual because of a disability.
• No federal funding for providing accommodations or services.
• The 504 form is one page long, and describes: the nature of the concern, determination of the handicap, how it affects a major life activity, and a description of reasonable accommodations.
• Must be reassessed annually.
• Team includes all of the student's teachers and parents.

DCAP: District Curriculum Accommodation plan

• only in Massachusetts, in MGL Chapter 71, Section 38Q1/2 - every school must have a DCAP in place
• says that school districts should adopt and implement curriculum accommodation to include all styles of learning
• all students would have access to specialists without being tested and diagnosed
• such as: direct instruction in reading

RtI: Response to Intervention

• an intervention process modeled to meet students' needs
• RtI is not a legal term from IDEA
• Research-based (sounds like NCLB)
• Use teaching methods to improve achievement and limit learning difficulties
• Usually played out in reading
• International Reading Association definition
• It used to be that students have to be two years behind before they could get services.
• Learning gap was eliminated, first use proven methods of teaching to see what works for the student, give all students a chance

Tier One Instruction:

• Who: almost everyone gets it (80-90% excludes students who have been pulled out or who are in special schools)
• Where: in the regular classroom
• Why: high-quality education for all
• When: all the time

Tier Two Instruction:

• Who: 5-10% of the students, based on classroom teacher's assessment, DBLS, DRA testing, such as English Language Learners, students who may need extra help with vowels, who have a small word bank, or based on math needs
• Where: small group instruction, reading groups
• When: during the school day
• Why: targeting areas of need

Tier Three Instruction:

• Who: targeted students based on assessment, who might need an entirely different program, 1-3% of the class statistically, could be students who need multi-sensory approach
• Where: individualized or very small group, likely in a separate setting
• When: during a part of the school day
• Why: to remediate that great need

Specific Learning Disability

SLD flowchart

• Massachusetts uses the federal definition
• what you need to do before determining that a student has an SLD:

1. Historical review and educational assessment - (a) to determine if the child has had the chance to learn by a qualified educator; (b) assessment of the student's attention and participation skills; (c) performance history based on report cards, how they performed in the classroom compared to their peers, MCAST results can be presented; (d) medical information
2. Area of concern and evaluation method - (a) evidence that the student lacks the processing skills in certain area, the teacher provided appropriate instruction yet the student does not perform in one of the areas such as written or oral expression, etc; (b) evaluation method: either use achievement discrepancy model (intelligence tests) or response to intervention model; student does not need to be significantly behind (2 years)
3. Exclusionary factors: the team must determine that this is not the result of an economic disadvantage, motor disability, cultural factors, English language deficiency, emotional disturbance
4. Observation - student must be observed in natural learning environment for academic performance and behavior

"Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction " by Carol Ann Tomlinson. Write notes on the classrooms described.

• I think the third classroom would require a deep understanding of the events and accounts in a historical context and factual sequence before they can process and understand the very specified information in the tasks described.

Class Notes

Federal definitions from Mass DOE
Widening the Circle by Mara Sapon-Shevin

10 lessons from Inclusive Classrooms

(from WTC from Ch. 2)
1. Understanding difference p. 18

• understanding differences by confronting them, the more you are exposed to differences, the more they are part of the circle
• it's not an academic exercise

2. Perspective taking p. 24

• not everyone experiences the world in the same way
• there are many models of reality
• disability can be a form of diversity

3. Real safety p. 29

• psychological and emotional safety
• no fear of abandonment or rejection

4. Exclusion hurts everyone p. 35

• everyone has painful memories of exclusion
• inclusion needs to be present from the start
• build a culture of inclusion

5. Compassion p. 37

• teachers need to teach compassion
• teachers must model and demonstrate compassion toward all students

6. Giving and getting help graciously p. 42

• all people need help
• nobody is completely independent
• inclusion creates an atmosphere of mutual respect and support

7. Responsibility to one another p. 44

• inclusion teaches everyone to think about "we" instead of "I"

8. Honesty about hard topics p. 46

• we don't help students by sheltering them from difficult situations
• by confronting hard topics in a supportive environment, you give students the vocabulary and support to deal with difficulties

9. Courage p.48

• courage to keep trying when things are difficult
• courage to stand up for justice
• courage to stand up for a bully
• courage to do things differently

10. Faith and hope p. 55

• faith and hope in/for a better world
• tikkun olam, repairing the world
• it's not "us" and "them" but "us all"

Class Notes

• How do we learn?
• What’s your learning style?
• Analytical or global (Winebrenner pg 52)
• VAKT
• Multiple intelligences
• How did you learn something

The learning process:

1. Reception - the taking in of information
2. Perception - Initial organizing of information
3. Association - Relating new information to old
4. Memory - Sequencing and retrieving information
5. Expression - Getting information out

• Reception: Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic, tactile, smell & taste
• Perception: Visual perception skills such as: Coordination (ability to follow and track objects with coordinated eye movements); Discrimination (ability to differentiate visually the forms and symbols in the environment); Figure-ground discrimination (ability to differentiate relevant stimuli – the figure – from the irrelevant stimuli – the background); Spatial relationships (ability to perceive the relative positions of objects in space) Perception: Auditory perception skills such as Discrimination (ability to differentiate auditorily the sounds in the environment) Sequencing (ability to recall in correct sequence and detail prior auditory information)
• Association: The organizing and relating of new information to old information; A statement should ring 3 or 4 bells; Material needs to be organized in a MEANINGFUL way
• Memory: Sequencing and retrieving information; Short term memory; Active working memory; Long term memory; Sequential memory
• Expression: Using the senses to express the information; Speaking; Writing; Moving; Drawing; Creating; comes out in the form of auditory, visual, kinesthetic and tactile ways
• Attention Control; Like the conductor of the orchestra or the manager

The Attention control conveyor belt: learning means that new information is continually on this process.
Emotional component affects all of these.

Case Study 1

Case study: Amy, age 11 yr. 7 mo. (List strengths and weaknesses)
Speech and Language Evaluation
Informal Assessment

• Behavioral observations: went to tests willingly and engaged diligently
• Speech and Language Test Results
• Oral-motor function/sensitivity: assessed informally, structures appeared symmetrical at rest and within functions for speech
• Voice/fluency/articulation: minor misarticulations, struggles over formation of output and production of multisyllabic words (weakness - expression)
• Hearing: Functional, did not appear to have auditory difficulty

Formal Testing - Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) 4

• percentiles 25 - 75% considered typical
• Concepts and following directions during this formal assessment - 63% (strength)
• Recalling sentences when given sentences to repeat verbatim, although she would repeat back the general gist of the sentence - 2% (weakness - memory)
• Formulating sentences 16% (weakness - expression)
• Word Classes - Receptive 50% (strength)
• Word Classes - Expressive 25%
• Understanding spoken paragraphs - 25%

Strong Narrative Assessment Procedure (SNAP) where the student listens to a test on tape, and then is asks to retell the story to someone who is absent, and then must answer 10 questions (half fact-based, five inference-based)

• Student was able to retell the story, adding in details in the beginning, and then telling a general ending not from the story
• The student's expression is suffering because she can't maintain attention, and expends a lot of energy with the learning process

Summary

• Solidly average with receptive language abilities
• Below average with expressive language abilities
• Expressive verbal output is marked by struggle behaviors

Recommendations

• Provide visuals to enhance academic performance, increase comprehension and retention of information
• Chunk the verbal and written output. She fatigues easily and does not produce her best work during long assignments
• Model responses so she can see/hear what is expected of her

Educational Achievement Test Report

Learning Styles

TKLD (Winebrenner) – page 48
And spelling styles on page 116
And teaching tips to complement learning styles on page 57 (give you ideas for your journal teaching exercise!)
Also global and analytical – page 52

Intelligence

Howard Gardner, in Frames of Mind (1983) defined it as “ the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings”.
In Intelligence Reframed (1999) he redefined it as “a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture”.
Multiple Intelligences website
Multiple Intelligence supports three key propositions

1. We are not all the same
2. We do not all have the same kinds of minds
3. Education works most effectively if these differences are taken into account rather than denied or ignored. (Intelligence Reframed pg. 91)

Difference between Intelligence and Learning Style
Intelligence: These are your strengths
Learning Style: These are your preferred ways of learning
Be careful of…

• Trying to teach all subjects using all the intelligences
• Trivial use of intelligences, for example thinking you are covering musical intelligence by getting all kids to sing their multiplication facts
• Distorting the use of intelligence, for example interpersonal intelligence is distorted into a cooperative learning activity
• Labeling students by their ‘intelligence’